MARRIAGE PREPARATION

A wedding marks the beginning of a new phase in life. As part of preparation for marriage we will spend some time with you discussing your understanding and expectations of your future, and encouraging you to be aware of anything where your expectations may be different.

We will ask you questions but we will not tell you how to live your life. We will also look with you at what you will say in the marriage service in church.

Nowadays, many people live together before they decide to get married and sometimes have children either together or from a previous relationship.

In the busyness of life it is not always possible to take a step back and consider what we want our lives to be, and so we offer you this opportunity to take stock and talk about your future together.

Preparing for marriage

Even if you have already been living together for some time, you are still two separate individuals with different backgrounds, personalities, experiences, hopes and fears.

You’ll never make such big promises to each other as the day you make your wedding vows. Your church knows that you will want to think these through and provides the time and space to do so. Ask your Vicar about marriage discussion and what they offer to help you consider the vows together.

To get you started, these are some of the key issues:

'All that I have I share with you'...How will we share our possessions and finances?

'Will you love, comfort, honour and protect (him/her)'...How will we cope with disagreements so that we will protect our love and respect for each other for a lifetime?

'Forsaking all others, be faithful as long as you both shall live’...How will we ensure we avoid and/or cope with temptations in order to remain faithful throughout our marriage?

'With my body I honour you' and 'all that I am I give to you'...How will we invest in our sexual relationship throughout our whole marriage?

You may find this booklet useful if you are already living together to help with thinking about what may change when you get married: